SAM SHINAZZI is an edgy and talented singer/ songwriter from Sydney, Australia, who has previously been responsible for two albums, "Less Than Perfect Say" (2003) and last year's "Long Drive Home", which was recorded as a band under the name The C-Minus Project.
Those ironically-titled records suggest a writer on drinking terms with life's trials and tribulations was at large, and Shinazzi's third album (he's now dropped The C-Minus Project moniker) "Stories You Wouldn't Believe" confirms he's a character who's been nutmegged by fate on more than one occasion.
His press release suggests 2004 was a "difficult" year for Sam, and while it doesn't go into specifics, the intensely personal and disarmingly honest lyrical content of all the dozen songs contained within make it clear that these difficulties may well contain relationship break-ups and the vice-like grip of failure, poverty and disappointment in all their varied and devastating forms. As if to emphasise the kind of thing we're getting into, he even dedicates the album to the late Elliott Smith: another fabulous, sensitive performer who recognised the shadows closing in during his short life.
All of which might suggest that "Stories You Wouldn't Believe" could be an overbearing misery-fest you'll be desirous to avoid after a few wincing plays. But not so. Yes, Sam's staggeringly frank and honest lyrical approach (like a starker, indie Springsteen in places) can be overwhelming - especially on tracks like the blasted indie-folk dirge "The Drifter" and the all-too-easy-to-relate bleakness of "Getting Too Old" - but the sharp'n'snappy semi-acoustic indie pop backdrops usually help cushion the blows and ensure the album remains a gripping listen from stem to stern.
Not that there's much emotional respite along the way. Indeed, heartfelt opener "Breakdown" opens with the confused and charged couplet "Don't you ever get the feeling you're falling apart?/ Don't you ever get the feeling you don't know where to start?" The answers of course are yes and yes, and within the first four minutes or so you're quietly getting dragged into Shinazzi's unforgiving past twelve months.
Most of what follows hits home beautifully, too. Songs like "Until Sunrise", "Out Of The Question" and the crestfallen "My Friend & A Free Day" are among the many highlights and are fatalistic gems one and all. "Until Sunrise" ("You are the best, I'd love to see you right now/ But you're fast asleep and I'm way too drunk to drive") spits a gob of country-tinged pathos into the plot; "My Friend & A Free Day" is a vivid, neo-anthemic cruise and "Out Of The Question"s stuttery excitement rushes on its' run in fine style. Besides, only the stoniest of hearts out there could fail to be moved by the song's concluding line: "Please remember I always meant to brighten up your day...even though it wasn't always that way." Aaah!
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Shinazzi's band operate well throughout, without anyone getting too flashy. The supporting cast includes Australian cult heroes like drummer Graham Trewin (Peabody) and bassist Beau Cassidy from ex-Laughing Outlaw power popsters Starky, and all concerned play with restraint, only opening up when Sam requires it, like on the upbeat'n'defiant "Game Over" - the one song where the guitar riffs shoot from the hip - and the closing "Trying Not To Think About It": the one instance where the album gets anything like a groove going. This song also has a pleasing Costello-ish edge of menace stirring in its' loins and closes the record on a surprising note of positivity, with Sam repeating "Take the time...accelerate...move on, you're OK!" Which, we can only hope, is indicative of Sam Shinazzi's improved state of mind and circumstance.
Because, if there's any justice still left in this murky ole world, Sam Shinazzi's "Stories You Wouldn't Believe" deserve comprehension on a far wider scale. Or, as the author so succinctly puts it on "I Don't Belong Here": "I belong in your heart/ I should be on your stereo, play me nice and loud." Sound advice, all things considered, if you ask me.
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